Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
On Thursday, Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife answered reader questions and reflected on his career in journalism before he retires at the end of May.
Mr. Fife has run The Globe’s Ottawa bureau for the past decade and also served as parliamentary bureau chief for CTV National News, as well as the National Post. Some of Mr. Fife’s most consequential political stories included his reporting on the SNC-Lavalin affair under the Trudeau government, as well as his reporting on allegations of foreign interference, including on claims China attempted to influence the 2021 federal election.
Readers asked about the story of which Mr. Fife is most proud, how to report without a bias and who he believed were the best politicians of the last 50 years. Here are some highlights from the Q&A.
All about Parliament Hill
Who, in your experience, was the greatest Canadian cabinet minister and who was the most disappointing?
Robert Fife: I think Paul Martin as finance minister was one of the best ministers in decades. He and Jean Chretien took tough and decisive action to eliminate the deficit that was threatening Canada’s financial standing in the world. There have been so many disappointing cabinet ministers that it is difficult to single out any one person.
Do you think someone will step up to challenge Pierre Poilievre’s leadership within the Conservative Party? If not, what are your predictions regarding Poilievre’s future as leader?
Fife: No one yet has emerged to challenge Mr. Poilievre. But I suspect he will be unable to hold on to the leadership. Many members of the Conservative caucus are not happy with his style of leadership, as we have witnessed from four defections to the Liberal government. It would only take 29 MPs to force a vote in caucus to oust him.
Of the thousands, who has been your favourite interviewee, the most direct and illuminating?
Fife: I would say Lloyd Axworthy and John Manley. While both Liberals, they held vastly different policy perspectives. You always walked away from both of them having learned something new.
Where do you see Confederation in the next few years as it navigates through national crises in Alberta and Quebec?
Fife: I have a great deal of faith that this country will stay united.
Canada is an amazing country. We welcome people of all races, languages and faith. No one will die because they can’t afford health care. Our democracy is alive and well. We have challenges, but I can’t see this country splintering.
Your opinion on the best three prime ministers in the past 50 years?
Fife: Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney.
Reflecting on his career
How did your childhood in northern Ontario influence your choice of career?
Fife: The people in my hometown are honest and hardworking people. They pay their taxes and expect politicians to spend their money wisely and to be ethical in running the country. I always write my stories for people who are honest and hardworking but have no voice.
What is the biggest trend you’ve seen in politics over the course of your career in journalism?
Fife: There are fewer reporters covering national politics than when I started working on Parliament Hill in 1978. The demise of newspapers, weak access to information laws, excessive government secrecy and the substitution of talking points for facts has made our role much more challenging.
Excessive secrecy and the increasing concentration of power in the PMO and the demise of the cabinet system are deeply worrying.
What’s an example of a time where you got a tip that you thought at first was too crazy or far-fetched but ended up being a major story?
Fife: I would say the tip I got about Maryam Monsef, the former Liberal MP.
She had claimed she was born in Afghanistan and fled the Taliban through the mountains with her family. Even President Obama praised her when he spoke to Parliament. I thought the tip couldn’t be true since she had been so public about being born in Afghanistan and suffering under Taliban rule.
Through a lot of dogged reporting, I found out that she had actually been born in Iran and never had to flee the Taliban.
I remember you breaking the Mike Duffy story. What stands out as the story you reported on that you are proudest of?
Fife: Two stories: SNC-Lavalin and no-fly list kids.
On SNC-Lavalin, if the government had been able to get away with letting this engineering giant off the legal hook, companies would have simply hired lobbyists to go to the PMO to avoid prosecutions.
On no-fly list, parents showed up at the airport but their young children were denied permission to fly because they had a name similar to someone on the no-fly list. I kept writing on this until the government was shamed into fixing the computer system so these kids were not denied the right to fly.
Advice for journalists
If ever a Globe story ran with accreditation to Robert Fife, I stopped to read it because I knew there would be information and insights not available to others. How did you build up these connections? What questions did you ask and in what ways did you pose them so that people trusted you completely?
Fife: I always spoke to everyone on Parliament Hill – not just MPs, senators and cabinet ministers, political aides and lobbyists. I always made a point of getting to know cleaners, kitchen staff, security guards, messengers, no-name political aides. They have eyes and ears and they have often passed on valuable information to me.
I try to forge relationships built on trust. If they tell me something, I protect their identity. It’s all about building trust.
How is political journalism different now than it was 10 or 20 years ago? What advice do you give younger journalists now, and is it different than the advice you gave 20 years ago?
Fife: The big difference is that it is much harder to get information from government. Civil servants aren’t allowed to speak to us. Access to Information laws are very weak. Every question we sent to the government must be approved by the PMO, which means we get bafflegab back to our questions.
My advice to younger journalists is stay curious, work the phones, meet as many people as you can and never give up.
What has the process been to ensure your conclusions are correct, not tainted by your own biases? How does a journalist remain truly impartial?
Fife: You have to always question yourself and ask: Am I being fair and is this balanced? There is the added benefit of having a rigorous editing process at The Globe to ensure biases are kept out of stories.
How do you maintain a straight face when interviewing the most obvious and egregious MPs who stretch credulity more than a pair of dogs fighting over a Gumby doll?
Fife: It takes practice!
And all the well wishes
You will be sorely missed as the Ottawa Bureau Chief for The Globe and Mail. Thank you for your perspective on politics, your non-partisanship and your love of journalism. Congratulations on your retirement! Thank you.
Fife: Thank you for your kind and generous remarks.
Great investigative journalism is not a game for the faint of heart. Thanks to you, and your anonymous sources. My suggestion for retirement? Consider opening a new pub on Wellington Street: The Fife and Chase. Pub fare menu comes in an unmarked brown envelope dropped through the transom at 5:30 on Fridays.
Fife: Good suggestion but Steven Chase – my comrade in arms – is much younger than me. He plans to continue to stir the pot.
Whatever is The Globe going to do without you, Bob?
Fife: The Globe has asked me to stay on for a year on a part-time basis so I can mentor young journalists and hopefully write the odd scoop!